


Without the Dark, We Wouldn't See the Stars

by Hotterthanhale



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Gen, Teen Wolf Fan Fiction Contest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-10
Updated: 2013-07-10
Packaged: 2017-12-18 09:20:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,659
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/878205
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hotterthanhale/pseuds/Hotterthanhale
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Boyd always liked the stars. He liked the way they brought light to an otherwise dark and empty sky. He liked how they twinkled and formed shapes in the heavens, but most of all Boyd loved how every night when he looked up into the night, they were always there.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Without the Dark, We Wouldn't See the Stars

Boyd always liked the stars. He liked the way they brought light to an otherwise dark and empty sky. He liked how they twinkled and formed shapes in the heavens, but most of all Boyd loved how every night when he looked up into the night, they were always there.

His first memory of the stars was when he was five. His house was always a bustle of activity, when you had five brothers and sisters it was kind of expected. From his brothers attempting to play soccer in the living room without breaking more of his father's shot glass collection to his sisters making an “art piece” on the walls with only their nail polish, Boyd hardly ever had time to himself. That is exactly why, in the evening when dinner was sufficiently eaten and all the dishes were done and his papa and all his siblings were watching TV in the living room, his mother would join him on the front porch to get a moment of peace. His mama would call it their time. They would always sit on an old rocking chair that creaked like the warped floor boards of their home as his mother gently rocked them back and forth. 

~

One particular winter night, a specific pattern in the sky caught Boyd's eye.

"Which one is that, Mama?" Boyd asked with a child’s excitement as he pointed his little stubby finger to a mysterious shape in the sky. His mother followed his line of sight to examine the unidentified constellation.

"Ahhh! That one is one of my dear favorites. It's called Orion. He was a very well-known hunter, you know. He was even said to have been the greatest hunter in the entire world!” she boasted as she spread her arms up wide as if to further prove her point.

“He was also very strong, but that wasn’t his only asset. You see, Boyd” she whispered turning to him “It did not matter if he was strong if he was not also brave. And brave he was. It was said he could slay any beast that crossed him."

Boyd’s small brown eyes filled up with glee.

"When I grow up, I'm going to be just like him, Mama!"

His mother just laughed and wrapped the blanket even tighter around the two of them. 

"You can be whoever you want to be, sweetie"

~

The stars were there for him when his mother and father died. It was nearing Christmas and his mama and papa decided to go do some last minute Christmas shopping. 

"Back in a flash, sweetie" his mom promised him as she gave him a departing kiss on the top of his head.

"Don't give your grandparents too much trouble now, you hear?" his dad lectured as they headed out the door. His papa shot him a wink. 

Boyd just laughed at his father’s teasing. He had never been a problem child and his papa knew it.

~

Hours later, his parents still had not returned, yet Boyd, being his eight year old self, was too transfixed on helping his brothers and sisters to decorate the house for Christmas to really notice. His older brother had just managed to successfully smash three consecutive ornaments when the phone rang. His grandpa slowly rose to get it.

"Try not to break the whole house while I'm gone!" he joked as he turned the corner into the other room. The chatter continued in his absence as the festivities went on. However, when he came back his usually jolly face was as grim as Boyd had ever seen it.

He doesn't remember much of what happened after that. All he could get himself to recall was his grandfather mumbling something about a car crash and his father losing control. That was when the tears started to come. His grandpa said his parents were gone. Gone forever.

The rest of his night was filled with sobs, sniffles, and full on hysterics from some of the children. His grandpa's stoic demeanor was crushed as he let cry after cry come out. His grandma was comforting his sisters as they were huddled on top of each other in a tragic embrace. His oldest brother sat with his head between his knees with nothing to indicate he was crying at all except the subtle shake of his shoulders. Some of the younger kids were crying, but Boyd could tell they were too young to truly know what was going on. That thought somehow saddened Boyd even further. 

He ran out the door and glued himself to rocking chair on the porch. Boyd himself wasn't sure what to think. He just wanted some time alone with the stars pretending it was yesterday when none of this even seemed possible. He pretended they were just inside making dinner and cracking jokes. But they weren’t. They never would be again.

He couldn't possibly believe they were gone.

Boyd didn't even remember if he got to tell his parents he loved them.

~

The stars were there when they had to sell his old house and moved his whole family to live with his grandparents in Beacon Hills. His grandparents’ house was smaller than his old one with far less rooms to fit the abundance of children now living there. He ended up sharing a room with his rowdier brothers. Boyd missed his old home very much.

With a new house came a new school which just so happened to be Beacon Hills Elementary. His grandparents couldn’t afford to drive all of his siblings to school with one in high school, two in middle school, a few in pre-K and him in elementary. This meant that he had to ride the bus every day. Boyd didn’t really mind, but from the looks the kids shot him at school he could tell that they did. Boyd missed his old school very much.

He didn’t like his new third grade class very much either. One boy was so hyper that he was almost always in a permanent state of trouble with the teacher. His best friend kept him in line a little, but regardless Boyd took a mental note to stay away from them. From the red-headed princess that sat at his table, to the shy doe-eyed boy in the corner, to the quiet blonde-haired girl beside him, Boyd could not find a real friend. Not to mention, the class bully who pushed everyone around, because his parents had money. Boyd missed his old friends very much.

Without any new friends, the stars became his companions as he spent every night looking out the window from his shared bedroom to tell them about his day and how that Jackson kid really needed to buzz off.

~

The stars were the reason he took the night Zamboni shift at the ice skating rink. Well, that and his family needed the money. His grandparents were having a hard enough time trying to raise all of his siblings even with the oldest ones no longer living at home. Boyd always did whatever he could do to help.

All in all, he really did love his job. Besides his random classmates trying to bribe him to give them his keys after closing to do who knows what, it was still a pretty sweet gig. Every night, after his shift was over, he could sneak into the alley, lie on his back, and just look up. He liked to pretend he was sitting in his mother’s lap on a chilly, dark winter night. Swaying back and forth on that old rickety rocker, as he traced the constellations he used to know so well with his finger. 

That’s how the mysterious man found him, mid-daydream, staring at the stars. Boyd didn’t notice him at first, too caught up in his own thoughts. He only turned around when he heard someone dramatically clear his throat. With his attention grabbed, he looked to see a tall, burley man who obviously worked out, definitely out of high school by the looks of his facial hair, and wearing a dark leather jacket. Come to think of it, Boyd noticed that all of his clothes were dark making him almost disappear into the gloom of the alleyway. Despite his intimidating appearance, Boyd wasn’t afraid. There was something about the way he held himself that made Boyd decide to hold his ground instead of running off screaming stranger danger.

The man’s name turned out to be Derek and apparently he had sought Boyd for something in particular. He went on about werewolves and possessing supernatural power. How he would be able to hear things from far away and heal with superhuman speed. Oh, and there was the little part about hunters and how they would want to kill him should he accept. Boyd actually laughed at that, not out loud of course. Boyd had always been the master of hiding his emotions. The thing that struck home with Boyd out of everything though was the idea of a pack, of a family.

“Don’t you want to be a part of something?” Derek persuaded as he settled into an intense stare.

Boyd knew the answer to that question. He always had wanted to belong. He was tired of being alone. He just wasn’t sure if he could make such a big decision, so he looked to the stars. He quickly spotted Orion’s belt and then Orion himself.   
He silently asked him what he should do, if he should become something he wasn’t even sure he could handle. Then he remembered what his mama told him many years ago.  
“You see, Boyd, it did not matter if Orion was strong if he was not also brave. And brave he was.”  
It was then that he knew his answer and he used all of his bravery to turn to Derek and tell him yes.

Boyd could have sworn he saw Orion wink down at him.

**Author's Note:**

> This was my entry for the teen wolf contest.  
> As you can see it was a back story for Boyd, but I wrote it before we knew about Boyd's sister.   
> Just a warning.


End file.
